Tenth Dot
by Rippling.River
Summary: I swore I would never fall for another human. Not after what happened last time. Not after I got Sandor killed. Why do I feel this way? Why can't I make it go away? We sought out to find Number Ten, who Ella insists appeared on the locator tablet. Forced to attend high school, finding Ten is like a needle in a haystack. Who is this girl? Why do I feel drawn to her? Is she like us?
1. Chapter 1

I was laying down on my favourite couch, my hands resting behind my head, trying to sleep when Eight teleported in front of me.

"What is it?" I asked drowsily.

"It's Ella." he told me. "She wants us to meet her in the lecture hall." He teleported away just as quickly as he had come. _He's going to find Marina._ I sighed before getting to my feet, tiredly wandering over. Marina, Ella and Eight were already sitting at Sandor's huge control panel, looking at something in Ella's hand when I arrived. When I got closer I saw that it was the locator tablet that Four and Six had found in Sam's backyard.

I had only met Sam once, when Four and Sam had found me in the a Mogadorian base in West Virginia. I had transferred an ex-ray stone to him and given it to him, so he could search the prison cells after he had mumbled something about looking for his Dad. Four and I couldn't rescue him. He had been captured and I haven't seen him since.

"It was there a moment ago." Ella frowned, snapping me back to the moment.

"What was there?" I asked, craning my neck to look at the tablet.

"Number Ten." Ella replied, her eyes locked on the screen.

"Ella, are you sure?" I asked. We had thought that Ella was Number Ten, but she had received a letter from Crayton telling her that she wasn't.

"Yes!" she insisted, jumping up and down on her little feet. She had the aeternus legacy, which allowed her to appear as any age as she wanted, I'm not sure why she preferred the age of a little girl.

"I don't see it, Ella." Marina said doubtedly.

"It was there a few moments ago, the blue dot. And I know the location too." she told us, typing into the computer quickly.

"Maybe you thought you saw it, but" Eight was cut off before he could finish.

"Eight, I know what I saw." Ella scoffed. "It was number Ten. The real number Ten. We have to get to Ten before the Mogadorians find out about him or her." she insisted.

"We can't just leave," Eight retorted. "Four, Six and Sarah will be coming back with Five anytime now."

"We can meet them on the way! We can't waste any time!" Ella hissed. I had never seen the little squirt so worked up before.

"We don't even know if what you saw is true!" I retorted.

"Nine, we have to go. Please! Ten is waiting for us!" Ella pleaded.

"What if there wasn't a blue dot, and you are just imagined it?" Marina asked.

"I didn't imagine it!" Ella insisted.

"Fine," I sighed, giving in. "We'll go."

"But Nine," Eight tried to argue.

"If Ella believes that is what she saw, then we will check it out." I shrugged. "Worst thing that can happen is that we are wrong. If she is right, then we have another ally."

"I'll pack some things!" Ella cheered excitedly.

"I'll help," Marina suggested. She grabbed Ella's hand and led her out of the room, leaving me and Eight alone.

"Nine, what if there is no Ten where Ella wants to go?" Eight asked.

"I'm not going to argue with the squirt," I sigh. "Besides," I say. "Maybe some Mogadorians will be around for us to kick their asses." I grinned.

"I'd rather avoid any fighting, thanks." Eight muttered, shaking his head slowly. His time in India turned him into a buzzkill.

"Why?" I frowned.

"Fighting, means people will get hurt." he shrugged.

"If we get hurt, then Marina can heal us." I scoffed.

"What if they kill one of us before Marina can get to them?" Eight asked nervously. "I just don't want another scar in my ankle."

"There won't be." I reassured him. "We'll just have to practice."

"Nine, I still have a bad feeling about this." Eight told me.

"Don't worry," I insisted. "If Ella is right, then we found another Garde. If she isn't, big deal. We go on a road trip. Nothing bad is going to happen." I got up and started walking towards the door.

"You just jinxed it." Eight muttered. I pretended not to hear him as I walked towards my room.

* * *

 **Hello! So here is chapter one, re-written. I just finished the prequel, _Last Days Of Lorien,_ so I decided to re-do this story. Enjoy :) **


	2. Chapter 2

"Nine, are you ready to go?" Eight asked me, bursting into my room without knocking. I had zero privacy nowadays. I didn't know how badly I would miss the old days, back when it was just me and Sandor against the world.

"No," I muttered. I had only just returned to my beloved home, now I was leaving again.

"He's ready." Ella said, taking my hand. I couldn't help but smile, as irritated as I was. Ella had a way of bringing that out in people.

"Where are Four and Six on the locator?" I asked, changing the subject as we left my room.

"They just arrived in Arkansas." Marina reported. "They should be meeting with Number Five soon."

"I told John and Six to meet us there." Ella told me. "They said okay."

"Where exactly is it that we're going?" I asked her as I led the way down to the parking garage.

"It's a surprise." Ella said mysteriously. I rolled my eyes as we went down the stairs.

"Your car," Eight said. "Is it fast?"

"Just you wait." I grinned. I heard Marina gasp when she saw Sandor's collection of cars. "Pick one." I told them, extended my arms to all the vehicles. Sandor didn't believe in letting all those precious gems collect dust so over the years he had build up the perfect collection of everything we would ever need; weapons, tech, vehicles, I had it all. The only thing missing now was Sandor, but he was never coming back.

"That one." Ella said, walking over to the sleek, shiny red convertible. I felt a wave of sadness rush over me. I remembered when Sandor had let me take this car on a date that I once had with a human girl. But that same human had betrayed both me and Sandor. She was the reason I had ended up in West Virginia in the first place. The reason my Cepan Sandor was killed. I shook the thought out of my head.

"This car is awesome." Eight said in awe. "I'm driving." he said, holding his hand out for the keys.

"Not a chance." I told him, slapping his hand hard before I climbed into the driver's side. Eight teleported into the seat next to mine and Ella and Marina hopped into the back. I started the engine and backed out of the garage. I started driving down the street, out of Chicago.

"Alright," Eight said pulling a map out of the glove compartment. "Where are we headed Ella?"

"A small island just off of Vancouver." she answered. "Its called Vancouver Island."

"In Canada?" Marina asked.

"Yes," Ella nodded.

"Isn't is constantly snowing in Canada?" Eight frowned.

"That's stereotypical." Marina rolled her eyes. "Some parts in Canada get little to no snow at all." Eight raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I used to study all the different parts of the world when I had nothing to do." she shrugged.

"Canada, here we come." I smiled as we exited the city.

* * *

"This is where we are staying?" I asked in disbelief, still irritated from having to ditch Sandor's red convertible a while back. Apparently the others wanted to travel in a less attention-drawing vehicle, so we had found someone who was more than willing to trade their normal looking black car with my awesome one. The others owe me big time, although I was secretly glad that I would never have to see that car again.

"It's quiet." Ella shrugged. Ella had led us to a small, close to deserted town. So small that it wasn't even big enough to be called a town, the sign on the way in had called it a village. The Village of Cumberland. We had pulled into the first gas station that we saw, which was appeared to be in the centre of the village. There was one main road that crossed with the one we had taken into the village. All the business's appeared to be on this one street, all the other streets had homes.

"You are positive that Ten is staying in this town?" Eight asked her as we all got out of the vehicle. After hours of driving, it felt nice to stretch my legs.

"Yes." Ella insisted. "This is where the dot appeared on the tablet."

"Well, how do we find her?" Marina asked.

"Ten is a chick?" I raised my eyebrow at them.

"I'm just assuming." Marina shrugged.

"Three, Four, Five, Eight and Nine are all guys. One, Two, Six and Seven are girls so its might be a good assumption, Marina." Ella shrugged. "Makes sense that the Tenth would be a girl to even it out."

"Well how do we find her then?" I repeated Marina's question.

"That I don't know." Ella admitted. "As a member of the Garde, Ten most likely won't be drawing any attention to herself."

"Unless she is like Five, who makes crop circles and posts really obvious hints of his whereabouts on the internet." Eight snickered.

"Okay then, so where are we going to start?" I asked.

"First, we need a place to stay. It might take us a while to find Ten, even in a small place like this." Marina scoffed.

"What's this place called again?" Eight asked.

"Cumberland." Ella replied. "And I've already got that covered, Marina." She pulled out a phone and begins texting away, I recognised the phone immediately as one of the spares that Sandor kept in the lecture hall. "I didn't think you would mind," she flashed me a weak smile when she sees my gaze.

"What do you mean you have have it covered?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, while the three of you were getting gas and buying snacks before we got on the ferry, I looked online and called ahead. I set everything up." she said proudly, her face beaming. She held out the phone so we could see the photo of the house that we were going to be staying in during our search.

"Good job," Eight smiled.

"So where is it that we are staying?" Marina asked, craning her neck to see the phone.

"Umm, I only know the street names." Ella laughed nervously.

"We'll ask for directions." Marina shrugged.

"Okay. The house is on Maryport, between second and third." Ella told us. Marina walked inside the gas station while we waited for her to come back out, Eight and I leaning up against the doors while Ella sat on the hood. A few teenagers walked over from across the street, some of them went inside, a few waited for them outside.

"Where are we going after this?" One of the girls asked. She had just pulled out a cigarette and her friend offered her a lighter without a word.

"I don't know," Someone else said, pulling out their pack of smokes. "But I need to find someone to buy some weed off of."

"We could go to the park," One of boys suggested. "See if anyone is down there with a bong."

"Hey, look who finally decided to show up!" someone laughed, interrupting the boy who had just spoken.

"Hey Melody, what's up?" Another asked. I looked where they were looking and saw a girl crossing the street. She was sort of tall, just a little shorter than Marina and had wavy, auburn hair that fell onto her shoulders. She caught my gaze and smiled before turning to her friends. I didn't hear what she said because Marina stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the group.

"I got the directions," she smiled, holding up a piece of paper with scribbling on it.

"Great." I said, turning and hopping back into the car. Marina sat upfront with me so she could give me directions, while Eight sat in the back with Ella. As I backed out, I couldn't help but glancing at the girl and her friends once more. She was already staring at me, her hazel eyes locked onto mine. She smiled warmly, waving shyly and I felt a wave flow through my body.

"Did you hear me?" Marina asked.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I mumbled, turning to face her.

"I said turn left." she laughed. I smiled, and followed her directions. We stopped outside of a wooden house. 2675 Maryport Avenue. I parked the car in the driveway and Ella cheerfully skipped ahead, and picked something up off the front porch. She gave it to Marina. I saw that it was a letter. Marina read it and pulled out a pair of keys, tossing them to Eight, who teleported to the front door and unlocked it. Ella, Marina and I walked in silently. It looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did outside. There was a stairway that led upstairs, and another one that led downstairs. It was already furnished with couches, a television, a computer. Everything we needed was already here. Eight disappeared and reappeared a few moments later.

"This is a pretty nice place." I say out loud. "My place was better though," I added.

"No place can compare to yours," Eight retorted. "Also, the basement is perfect for training." he reported. "There are no windows, and we can easily isolate it and make it soundproof."

"That's perfect." Marina smiled. "We should get on that right away, so we can keep up our training."

"Good. Than I can whip the two of you into shape." I sneered, leaping and landing on the couch.

"You know, we could have been spotted and followed," Marina said nervously out of nowhere.

"We'll be ready for anything," I shrugged.

"If it makes you feel better we could have a special knock for every time we come in," Eight suggested.

"That's stupid." I retorted, rolling my eyes.

"I think it is a good idea." Ella shrugged. They decided on a simple sequence of four knocks before leaving me alone upstairs while they worked on the basement. I was laying in the living room, stretched out on the couch with my eyes closed, slowly dozing off when the door swung open. My instincts kicked in immediately; I leaped up and touched the ceiling, activating my gravity legacy while waited by the hall. I watched as a man stepped through and I leaped down, tackling him to the ground instantly. I heard him grunt in pain as I wrapped my arm around his neck, putting him in a tight headlock.

"Are there others?" I growled, preparing myself to end his life. I heard Marina and Ella running up the stairs and I knew Eight would soon teleport too. _I'll kill this Mog on my own._

"Nine stop!" I heard someone scream. I recognised Six's voice immediately and released my prisoner, taking a closer look at him before glancing towards Six, who had John, Sarah and two other boys behind them. One of the boys seems oddly familiar, it took a moment for me to figure out where I knew him from.

"What the hell!" He hissed, shoving me away weakly before bending down to see if the man was alright. I was about to shove him back, but I stopped. I remembered this boy. The last time I had seen him, he had been surrounded by Mogs while trying to find his father. _This must be his father. He actually found him._

"Sam, he'll be fine." Four told him. "If Nine hurt him badly, then Marina can heal him."

"My name is Malcolm." Sam's dad told us. "It's nice to see you all again," _Again?_ I decided not to ask, figuring that it would all be explained later.

"Sam." I echoed, nodding to the still-pissed off boy. "It's nice to see you alive." I turned to the other boy. "You must be Five." He didn't say anything, just nodded. There was a look in his eyes as he stared at me that I couldn't figure out.

"You guys sure picked out a nice house," Four grinned, glancing around. Six closed the door and locked it before they started exploring.

"God damn it Four!" I hissed, shoving him against the wall. "Next time you decide to show up, at least call first. If you hadn't stopped me, I would have killed him." Four just grinned, shaking his head before joining the others. _We've got Five. Now we just need to find Number Ten and then we'll all be together._

* * *

 **Well here is another update :) I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"No way." I hissed, shaking my head firmly. "I'm not doing it, and you can't make me."

"Come on," Marina pleaded. "It can't be that bad,"

"No." I told her. "I'm not going there. We'll be surrounded by them!"

"It's not like we're fighting them," Eight rolled his eyes. Everyone was teaming up against me, agreeing on a plan that I was completely against. "We're just going to blend in among them."

"How do we even know Ten is there?" I asked.

"Nine, it sounds to me like you are afraid to go to high school." Four sneered, crossing his arms.

"I not afraid of anything!" I growled, punching him in the arm roughly.

"Then prove it." Four snickered. "Go to school."

"How will going to school prove anything? It's just a bunch of dumb humans who can't protect themselves." I retorted. I had never gone to school in my life; Sandor and I were always above all that stupid human crap.

"Come on, Nine." Ella pleaded. She gave me a look and I sighed, I could never disagree with the squirt.

"Fine," I grumbled. "But you have to do all my homework." I told Four sternly.

"Deal," Four grinned.

"I hope I don't regret this," I muttered.

"Alright, here are your new I.D cards." Malcolm said, handing each of us our cards. He wasn't angry at all that I had attacked him, although Sam didn't seem too forgiving. Malcolm had been up late making fake identities for us all to blend into the high school and had just finished handed them out to us.

"Evan Parker?" Eight read his fake name out loud, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Nathan Grant." I read mine. Six's said Storm Miller, Four's was Jonathan McMillan, Sarah's was Sarah Paisley, Ella was Ella Pierce, Five was Farid Green and Sam and Malcolm's new last name was Weaver.

"Storm?" Six laughed in disbelief, as if it were some sort of joke.

"I picked it out." Sam grinned from ear to ear.

"The story is, I adopted all of you. You are all in grade eleven, though some of you were held back, hence the reason you are older than you should be." Malcolm told us. "Except you, Ella." he added. "I registered you as a grade eight."

"Adopted?" I snickered. "The humans are dumb enough to fall for this?"

"Yes." he nodded. " I am registering all of you at school tomorrow morning. I have already called in, and the secretary knows that I am coming. You will all start your classes tomorrow."

"Do I really have to do this?" I groaned, seriously regretting my decision.

"Yes." Four and Six said in unison.

"Sandor would have never made me go to school." I muttered under my breath.

* * *

"Hello, I am Mrs. Guss, the secretary here at Cumberland Secondary school. I have handed you your schedules and your locks, do you have any questions?" she asked. I looked at the others, no one raised their hands. "The other students are currently in their homerooms, you will be directed to yours shortly." The office door swung open and a girl about Marina's size walked in, a piece of paper in her hand.

"Hi Mrs. Guss." she smiled. "The computer in Mrs. Taylor's room isn't working. Zack is the only one absent." she told her.

"Okay, thank you." Mrs. Guss said, writing the name, _Zack_ on a piece of paper. "Can you do something for me?" she asked the girl when she had put the pen down.

"Sure." the girl shrugged. "What do you need?"

"These kids," she said, nodding towards us. "They are all starting school today and I don't have time to show them all to their homerooms. Could you do it for me? Here is a list of where I have put them." she handed the girl the piece of paper. She examined it closely before turning to us.

"Alright, follow me." the girl told us, leading us out of the office. She turned down the first hallway and started to slow down right away. "Jonathan McMillan." she read from the paper.

"That's me." Four told her, taking a step forward.

"Okay, you're up first. Here is your homeroom," she said, stopping in front of a door. "Number Four." I stopped moving. We all held our breath. _She knows._ Four looked like she had just slapped him.

"What did you just say?" he asked, his voice quivering.

"This is your homeroom. Homeroom Four." she narrowed her eyes. We all sighed in relief. _What the hell?_

"Okay." Four said awkwardly, opening the door and walking inside without another glance.

"Sam Weaver?" she asked next.

"Me." Sam stepped forward. "Your homeroom is number two." she said, nodding to the door across the hall. Sam disappeared inside the door and she led us down another hallway with just lockers. Where I expected her to turn, she kept walking.

"Which one of you is Marina?" she turned to face us.

"That would be me." Marina told her. "Is this my homeroom?" she asked when we arrived at another door.

"Yes. You are in homeroom seven." _Seven? Four is in homeroom four and Marina is in homeroom seven? That can't be a coincidence._ She didn't say anything as she walked a few steps to the next doorway. "This is homeroom one. The best advisory, by the way. Ella Pierce, you're in this one." Ella stepped forward.

"Bye guys." she said to us before going into her classroom.

"The homeroom right next to it, homeroom three. Sarah Paisley."

"I'll you all later." Sarah said. We were led to the end of the hallway.

"This is homeroom six. Storm Miller, you are in this homeroom." Six shot me a look before disappearing. "Come on." the girl told the remaining three of us as she led us back down the way we came. The door to Ella's class was open and I saw her standing in front of everyone while the teacher, who was a guy, was talking. We started walking down the hallway that I had originally thought we would turn down. We stopped at a door and she turned to face us.

"Is this homeroom five?" Five asked nervously.

"You're catching on." the girl smiled. "You're Farid, right?"

"Yeah." he said numbly.

"Then this is your stop." she grinned.

"See you." He said to me and Eight, who were the only ones left. He walked in without another word, disappearing around the corner.

"And you two must be Nathan and Evan." she told us.

"Yeah." Eight nodded. "That's us."

"You guys are both in my homeroom," She stopped in front of the last door in the hallway, but she didn't open it. Instead, she turned to face us with a serious expression on her face.

"Welcome to Homeroom Eight, the last homeroom. We suck at the homeroom challenges, and we are even worse at the Friday morning quizzes." she winked. She frowned suddenly, looking me up and down and then smiled. "I know you." she told me.

"You do?" Eight asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I didn't know how else to respond so I just shrugged.

"Yeah. I remember you. You were at the Esso on the weekend. I was there with my friends." she told me. "I was the one who smiled at you." she added.

"I remember that." I grinned, recalling the cute girl with the auburn hair.

"I'm Melody." she told me, her brown eyes twinkling as she extended her hand for a handshake.

"Nathan." I told her, grasping her hand firmly, it was warm to the touch.

"Then you must be Evan." she smiled at Eight.

"Yes." Eight replied.

"Well. Let's go into our homeroom, shall we?" she opened the door and led the way in.

"That took an awful long time to go to the office," the teacher, who must be Mrs. Taylor, narrowed her eyes at Melody.

"Mrs. Guss had me playing tour guide to the new kids. I had to show them all to their homerooms." Melody explained to her.

"How many are there?" A girl asked her. Melody took a seat next to where she sat on the back counter, near the window that overlooked the field.

"There are nine. One in each advisory but we were lucky to get two. Meet Nathan and Evan everyone!" Melody announced.

"Nine?" the girl frowned. "That's the most new students we have had in like two years!"

"Welcome to Homeroom Eight," the teacher told us. "I am Mrs. Taylor. Do you have your class schedules?" she asked.

"Yes." We told her, holding up the pieces up paper that Mrs. Guss had given us.

"Melody, could you help them figure out their classes?" she asked.

"Sure." Melody shrugged. "You can sit over here." She motioned to two empty desks in front of where she sat on the counter. Eight and I sat down, setting our bags down on the ground beside us.

"Evan, your first block is Science with Mrs. Lange so you are in my classes." she told him. "And Nathan, you also have Science with Mrs. Lange so you are in my classes too."

"Is that our first class?" Eight asked.

"Yes." Melody nodded. "Your second class is Socials, with Mr. Curtin. After that is break. After break is English with Mrs. Stoyles, then it's lunch. After lunch you will come back here for afternoon homeroom. Then it is gym, followed by math with Mr. Phillips. Tomorrow, your electives are Sound and Lighting," she grinned. "I'm in that class."

"Sound and Lighting?" Eight mouthed. I just shrugged and let Melody continue.

"After is Tech Metal, also a class that I am in and then it is Science, after that is Woodcraft. You two are in every one of my classes." she told us.

"Good." Eight said. "Then we can't get lost. We'll just know to follow you." We waited until the bell rang and we followed Melody. She led us over to her locker, which was very close to the exit of the school.

"I don't think is was just a coincidence." I whispered to Eight. We were standing back for enough that she couldn't hear what we were talking about.

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"Johnny is in homeroom four, Five is in homeroom five, Six is in homeroom six, Marina is in homeroom seven and you and me are in homeroom eight. Don't tell me that I was the only one who noticed that!"

"I noticed too. I'm just hoping that it was just a coincidence." Eight shook his head. Before I could say anything more, Melody had closed her locker and walked over to us.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah." I told her. We turned on our heels and she led the way to our first class.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the update :)**


	4. Chapter 4

"You and Evan can sit there," Melody said, pointing to two desks that were empty. We sat down, and she took her seat in front of us, the chair next to hers was empty. In front of her, the very front two desks in the row, were two girls. One of them didn't glance back at her at all, but the other one turned around almost instantly and started talking to her about how her weekend went. I heard someone sit down behind me and I turned around to see Marina.

"You're in this class too?" I asked her. _Great. Like I haven't noticed that Eight and Seven were basically a thing, as much as they both tried to hide it. How did I end up as the third wheel?_

"Yeah." she nodded. I waited, watching the door but none of the other garde walked in. A boy walked in late and sat down beside Melody. The loud sound of the bell went off and the teacher collected her papers and walked in to the front of the room. The class was now starting. None of the others were going to walk through the door now. I didn't listen to what she was saying, something boring about brain cells. Eventually, she went back to her desk, expecting us to work on some dumb booklets. Melody turned around, facing Evan and me. The boy next to her did the same, and the girl she was talking to before pulled up a chair next to Melody.

"So, how old are you?" Melody asked. "When I saw you at the Esso, you were driving."

"I'm seventeen." I told her. "I'm supposed to be in grade twelve but I was held back a grade when Malcolm adopted me, I couldn't speak english." I said as Malcolm had instructed me to. _These humans are dumb and will believe anything._

"Really?" The boy asked. "Nice that's pretty cool. Are you from Alberta? You kinda look like the sort," he added quietly.

"Yeah." Eight said quickly, nudging my arm. "That's where he grew up."

"Awesome! That means that you got your license at fourteen, right?" The boy grinned.

"Yeah." I nodded, going along with it.

"Where abouts in Alberta are you from?" he asked.

"Edmonton," I told him, remembering reading somewhere that it was the capital of the providence. "But I didn't speak english." I remembered to add. _I'm going to have to remember everything I'm telling him now, can't have any conflicting details in our back stories. We stand out enough as it is._

"What language did you speak?" Melody asked curiously.

"French." I told her. "I spoke french. It took a while to get rid of the accent, but I managed." I smiled. _Please don't ask me to speak in French._

"I'm River." the boy next to Melody told me. "I met you in Homeroom," he winked to Marina. She nodded her, remaining silent. I could have sworn I saw Eight shoot him a quick glare.

"You already know who I am," Melody said. "This is Serena," she nodded her head to the girl next to her.

"I don't like new kids." Serena muttered before her Melody and her burst out laughing, Mrs. Lange had to threaten to split them up to get them to calm down.

"Sorry," Melody mumbled. "It's an inside joke between the two of us." River looked almost as confused as we were.

"So, if Marina, Evan, and me are in this class then where are the others?" I asked.

"Others?" River frowned.

"Yeah." I said. "John, Sam, Sarah, Ella, Storm, and Farid." _At least I remembered what I have to call them here. That will get some getting used to for the ones who normally just go by their numbers._

"Oh, they must be in the other class." Serena said.

"Other class?" Eight frowned.

"Yeah. There are two groups of each grade. Either, in our case, Eleven-One or Eleven-Two. We are all in Eleven-Two, so your siblings are in Eleven-One." River explained.

"Ella is a younger grade so I don't know what class group she is in," Melody added. _Malcolm should have thought of that. What if the Mogs show up here? How will we find Ella?_

"So which class would the others be in?" I asked.

"They would be in English." Melody shrugged.

"Who's the teacher?" I pressed. I sensed that they were starting to get weirded out by excessive questions but I didn't care.

"Mrs. Stoyles." Melody frowned, she looked at my suspiciously. _Whatever, she can look at me however she wants. We need to know where to find the others in case we were followed here._

"Where is the class?" I insisted. "Like how we would find it?"

"The room right next to our homeroom," Melody said slowly. "Is something wrong, Nathan?"

"No," I shook my head. "Nothing is wrong,"

"You see," Eight started slowly. I shot him a glare, knowing that he was about to say something to them that I would have to go along with to keep our cover. "Nathan grew up on the streets before he was adopted," he told them. I raised my eyebrow at him, but he ignored me. "Nathan found Five," he coughed, quickly realizing his error before recovering "year-old Farid. Five year-old Farid was all alone. And Nathan here, good old Nathan," he winked, sensing my growing annoyance but continued anyways. "-took him under his wing. He looked after him. Two peas in a pod. Then Malcolm adopted them, and the rest of us. Nathan's and Farid's bond is just so strong, Nathan has troubles being without him. He needs to know exactly where Farid is otherwise he freaks out." Eight finished. _What the fuck Eight? What kinda bullshit is that!_

"I," I started to protest, but Eight kicked me hard in the shins. I shot him the nastiest glare that I could muster. _I have no choice but to go along with this now. He'll pay for it in the training room later._ "I told Malcolm specifically to make sure Farid was in my classes, but I guess he forgot." I seethed, holding my glare but Eight pretended not to notice.

"That's sweet." Melody smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. I changed the subject by asking about the town. With all our talking, we didn't manage to get any work done and the whole hour had passed. The sound of the bell made me jump, a foreign sound that I would have to get used to. It was annoying.

"Relax," River laughed. "Just the bell that allows us to leave this terrible class."

"I heard that," Mrs. Lange called, shooting him a look. I picked up the binder that Malcolm had bought the day before, and started walking down the hallway where all the other students had disappeared down.

"This is our next class," Melody told us. I nodded and started walking in with Eight right behind me but out of the corner of my eye I saw Four, and behind him all the others.

"I'll be right back," I said quickly, running over to him before she could say anything. Eight and Marina followed behind without question.

"How was English?" Eight called before Four walked into his next class. Five, Six, Sam and Sarah stopped walking. We were crowding the hall, so we moved to the side to allow the other students to pass by us.

"Boring." Six groaned. "We have to write short stories!"

"Science was pretty bad. I don't even know what the teacher was trying to teach us." I told them. "How are we going to find Number Ten?" I asked in a hush whisper, wanting to get our task done as soon as possible. _I don't want to spend any more time than is required here._

"If we each get close to different people, get to know them, be their friends, then it may be easier." Marina suggested quietly.

"Better hurry up, new kids. One more minute until your late." One kid hissed. I recognised him from the Science class earlier.

"Alright." Four nodded. "We better not be late. We'll talk more about this at break." he added before walking into his class. The others followed him, leaving Marina, Eight and me standing in the hallway.

"Let's go," Eight said, shoving me towards the door. Before I entered, the bell went off.

"Late," the boy had we had seen in the hall smirked.

"You must be our new students. Come up here, and we can introduce you to everyone." The man at the front of the class smiled warmly. Silently, I walked passed the five pairs of desks and stood beside the teacher, who was sitting on a stool.

"Now, I want the four of you to tell the class your names, and where you are from." he instructed.

"I'm Nathan." I started. "I am from Edmonton.." I added, remembering that I had told River, Melody and Serena that in Science. I scanned the students and spotted them sitting by the row of computers. On their screens, was some sort of game. Everything was square, like cubes. I had heard of this game before, I just couldn't recall the name.

"I am Evan," Eight said. "I am from India."

"My name is Marina, and I was born in Spain."

"My name is Mr. Curtin, and welcome to Cumberland Secondary School." he smiled. "You can sit anywhere there is an open desk." he told us. There was four desks empty, two on one side of the room and two on the other. Eight and me sat near the windows while Marina took a seat near the computers, where a large group of girls were sitting. I looked over at Melody, who once again, was sitting next to River. Serena sat amongst the large group of girl near Marina. Just looking at the two together, Melody and River, it made a warm feeling come across me. It wasn't a good one. It was almost like hatred, but not quite. I wasn't really sure what it was. It had never happened to me before.

"You're from India, right?" Said a boy who sat in front of us. It snapped my attention to him.

"Yeah," Eight nodded. "I lived there for most of my life."

"Nick is from India too." he told them. "He's absent though. You have to meet him. He's a pretty cool guy."

"I'm looking forward to it." Eight smiled kindly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kai." he smiled. "I'm glad you guys came along." he added.

"Why's that?" I asked him.

"Because now, I'm not the newest kid in the school." he shrugged. "I came at the end of Term one. " When Mr. Curtain called his name to pay attention, he turned around. _Shows up during the school year. He could be Ten._ I thought and something else crossed my mind that I hadn't thought of before. Could I reach out to Ella's telepathy? _**Ella. Can you hear me?**_ I asked, not really expecting a response. I was surprised when I got one.

 _ **Yes,**_ she answered. _**What is it? Nine, is something wrong?**_

 _ **No**_ _,_ I shook my head, even though she couldn't see it. _**I found a possible Ten. He's the boy sitting directly in front of Eight.**_ I explained. _**Are you okay on your own in your class?**_

 _ **Good job.**_ She told me, I imagined she would be smiling. _**And I'm fine, thanks**_. I saw Eight's face go blank, as if he was concentrating. _Ella must be talking to him now._ I thought to myself.

"Ella wants me to get close to Kai. See if he is Ten. Are you alright with that?" Eight said in a hushed tone so only I could hear with my heightened hearing. "You could do it, if you want. You are the one who suspects him."

"No," I shook my head. "You can. I don't want to pretend to be best friends with some human."

"He may not be human." Eight insisted. "He could be Ten."

"Or he could just be another stupid little human." I retorted. Eight sighed, sensing that I was just looking for an argument and turned away from me. _This isn't fun. I don't want to sit around and do nothing all day. School is boring._ I sat, staring out the window at the birds who flew by, wishing that I could be out there, free to do and go wherever I pleased. The bell rang and everyone stood, grabbing their binders and racing out of the class room.

"It's break." Kai explained. Someone called his name and he walked away without another word.

"Come on," I said to Eight. "Let's go and see the others." Marina followed us out the door and we found Ella instantly, she had been in the room next to us.

"Hey," she grinned, winking at me. We followed the flow of students, choosing a hallway and started walking down it. By coincidence, it just happened to be the hall where Four and the others were.

"Hug Five." Eight mumbled in my ear.

"What?" I hissed. "No way!"

"You have to." Eight insisted. "Melody is watching." He nodded to where a group of students were sitting on bench, some of them watching us curiously. I scowled before walking faster, pulling Number Five into a tight embrace.

"Just laugh and go along with it." I hissed irritably in his ear. He nodded and laughed nervously. _Smooth._

"How was Science?" I faked a smile. Six shot me a strange look but I just shrugged it off.

"It was great." he said cheerfully. "We learned about sound waves." he grinned as I let him go. After Melody and her group of friends had passed, I turned and shoved Eight hard into the nearest locker. Five, sensing that the charade was up, scowled.

"What the hell was that?" he hissed angrily.

"Thanks to Eight telling my new besties that little Farid here was my little brother," I glared at Eight, who merely shrugged. "I have to pretend to be some stupid paranoid bitch who is constantly worrying about this kid." I retorted, shoving Five into Six.

"I'm flattered," Five grinned. "But why?"

"Nine kept asking all of these weird questions," Eight scoffed. " _What class are they in? Who's the teacher? Where can I find it_?" Eight mimicked. "They were getting suspicious! I had to make up some excuse!"

"And the best of you could think of is that he is my big brother?" Five groaned. He seemed really pissed, maybe even more than I was. _What's his problem?_ Eight's only response was a shrug.

"I hate school." I complained. "Why do I have to be here?"

"You did find a potential Ten." Ella scoffed.

"I already agreed to do all your homework, quit complaining." Four grumbled. "Apparently they hand out a lot here."

"How do we even know that Ten goes to this school?" I prompted.

"We don't." Marina shrugged.

"Then why are we all wasting our time here? Why don't some of us-" I was cut off by a forceful shove, knocking me into Five, who nearly fell to his feet. I spun around to see the boy in my classes who had warned us about being late.

"I'm sorry," he smirked. "I didn't see you there." His friends all snickered behind him. I'd seen kids like him in movies that Sandor used to like to watch. These kids were trouble. I clenched my fist, ready to retaliate but someone grabbed my arm. I expected it to be Four, or Marina, or Eight, or Ella or anyone but Five.

"Don't." he told me. "He isn't worth your time." Five added loudly so the boy could hear. I nodded and we all started walking down the hallway. I was in the back of the group when I was shoved hard again. Just like before, when I turned around again, the same kid was standing there with his arms crossed.

"Running away like a little bitch?" he sneered. _This was kid was asking for an ass beating._

"Who's running." I spat. I clenched my fists as hard as I could, trying to control the rage that was building up inside.

"Nathan," Four hissed. "Don't."

"Okay guys, let's leave him alone. Wouldn't want to embarrass him in front of his boyfriend." The boy said again, his friends all snickering as if it were the funniest joke they had ever heard. _Humans._

"What's your problem?" I scoffed, stepping forward to shorten the distance between the two of them.

"Nathan," Four growled again, but this time I ignored him. I took more steps until I was just inches away from the kid's face, towering over him with my height.

"Still want to fight?" I retorted, looking down at him.

"Nathan! Please." I heard Ella say. "Stop." she pleaded.

"You aren't worth my time," I told the kid, repeating what Five had said. "Leave. And take your little bitches with you." I walked away and heard the soft footsteps of the others behind me. The kid didn't try to come at me again, clearly sensing that I would pummel him into the ground. When the bell rang, Melody walked over to us.

"It's time for English." she explained. Eight, Marina, and I said goodbye to the others and followed Marina to our next class, where she sat in front of River.

"Welcome to my class." The teacher said once she saw us. "I am Mrs. Stoyles. I had your siblings earlier this morning." she added.

"They aren't our siblings." I said automatically.

"Real siblings." Eight added. "Just people we live with." he shrugged. Eight shot me a look but I ignored it. _My story was always that I was an only child. Now I am supposed to have eight siblings?_

"Alright then." Mrs. Stoyles said after a moment of silence. "Nathan, you can sit back there." She said, nodding to a desk at the very back of the class. "Evan, you can sit here." she directed him to a desk in the middle. She made Marina sat at the back table before she started talking about creative writing and proper punctuation. I drowned out the noise and stared out the window, out onto the field as I had done in Socials. I noticed that the class had gotten really quiet and I turned to see why. They were all staring at me expectantly.

"Pay attention, New kid." I realised, as the head in front of me turned around, that it was the boy from the hall sitting in front of me.

"Mason," Mrs. Stoyles narrowed her eyes. Mason smirked at me once more before turning back around. "Nathan," she said to me. "I asked you a question. What was it?" The class was dead silent, all of their beady eyes locked on me. I felt nervous, having this much attention directed towards me. It felt awful. Eight and Marina were staring hard at me too. "Nathan?"

"Could you repeat the question?" I mumbled, embarrassed. The class seemed to find this funny because they roared in laughter.

"I said, 'Are you paying attention?'" she scoffed.

"I am now." I replied, trying to be a smart ass. She glared at me before turning back to the class. I didn't pay attention for the rest of the class and when we got let out for lunch, Eight punched me in the arm.

"What the hell?" he hissed.

"What?" I frowned.

"You can't attract attention like that to yourself." he retorted.

"Relax." I scoffed. "It's not like I announced to the class that I was an alien from planet Lorien trying to defend this planet from another alien race called the Mogadorians." I teased.

"Whatever." Eight rolled his eyes. "Let's go find the others." We found them at the same spot as before, and we walked around the halls. Four shoved open a door that led us outside onto the field. We walked to the very middle and sat in a circle, we were the only ones out here so no one could bother us. The school looked far away from where we sat.

"This boy in our class, he doesn't speak to anyone or participate in anything. He keeps his head down. He's always looking out the window, ready to leave in a moments notice and has his backpack with him. He might be Ten." Six reported to us.

"It sounds a lot more likely than Nick, who might just be a new kid here." Eight added.

"Is there anyone else who might be Ten?" Four asked us.

"I don't know." Eight shook his head. "Ten could be anyone. Like you said before, we need to start talking to other people and get to know them."

"Alright." Four nodded. "From now on, no more little meetings like this with all of us. The other students will think we're weird, if they don't already. Unless it's super important, we talk at home. Deal?" he asked.

"Deal." We agreed. I walked away from them in silence, back towards the school. _Why can't Number Ten make this easy for us and just come out of hiding?_

* * *

 **Here is another update :)**


	5. Chapter 5

"What class do we have now?" I asked when the bell rang, letting us go from afternoon homeroom. The day couldn't go by fast enough.

"Gym." Melody replied as we walked out the door. The hallway was flooded with students, so many humans that with one flick of my wrist, I could send tumbling with my telekinesis. The thought was amusing.

"This is going to narrow it down." Eight whispered to me when Melody went to her locker. We hadn't bothered to find our lockers since we didn't really have anything to put in them anyways. "Majorly."

"What do you mean?" I asked, not really paying attention to him but instead watching Melody as she tucked her long hair behind her ear, squatting to reach something at the bottom of her locker.

"Well, Number Ten is like us, with the markings on his or her leg. Whoever Number Ten may be, they definitely won't be wearing shorts and showing them off." Eight scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Then this should make it easier for us." I grinned, finally, some good news.

"Do you guys know where the gym is?" Melody asked us. "I've got to go to the girls changing room."

"I know where it is." Eight nodded. "Kai showed me at break."

"Alright, great." Melody smiled. "You can show Nathan." She walked and turned into a room just down the hall.

"You don't know where it is, do you?" I asked him.

"Nope." Eight shook his head. "But I'm sure it can't be that hard to find. Just follow the others." he shrugged. We started following a boy that we recognised from Socials class, Ethan, I think his name was. He led us down a hallway and into the large gymnasium. Many of the other students were coming out of a different door, which I assumed led to the changing rooms. I caught sight of Melody, who was wearing a pair of black shorts My gaze fell to her ankles and I couldn't help but feel disappointed when there was no mark there. _Melody isn't one of us._

Most people in the class were wearing shorts, practically all of the boys were. Some of the girls were wearing sweatpants or yoga pants. There was one boy who wasn't wearing shorts, the one that Six had been talking about, the one with a backpack with him at all times, who seemed prepared to run at the first sign of trouble.

"Nathan, Evan." The gym teacher nodded. It was Mrs. Lange, our science teacher. _She teaches science and gym?_ "Come on over here, we'll explain everything to you." Marina and Six were already over there. Sarah made her way over with Sam and Four. Five walked over on his own after the bell had already rung.

"Alright," said a chubby man with gray hair. "I am Mr. Phillipes. The way gym class works is we have the grade elevens in two different classes, Eleven one and Eleven two. My class is Eleven two. Nathan, Marina and Evan. The three of you are in my class. Storm, Farrid, John, Sarah and Sam, you are all in Mrs. Lange's class. We have a running program at this school. Normally, you start at level one but we are halfway through the year and most people are on level six so we'll just start you at that. You run for five minutes straight, and then you walk for one minute. You do this three times. After four classes of doing that level, you complete it and move on to the next one. We're about to get started. We'll give you watches so you can time your running."

"This is going to be hell." Sam muttered. I smiled. _This is going to be easy._

"I know what you're thinking Nine, don't even think about it." Eight hissed in my ear once the teachers had gone away. He was always being a buzzkill.

"What?" I scoffed.

"We can't draw attention. We all can outrun these humans, you don't need to prove it." he retorted.

"Just let me have a little bit of fun," I rolled my eyes, following the crowd of students as we made our way outside to begin our run.

"Nine," Eight insisted. "We can't draw attention to ourselves."

"I'm a fast runner. I won't even run that fast, I'll just keep to the head of the line." I told him. Eight sighed, giving in. The whistle blew, and off we were. I saw Melody at the front of the group and caught up with her easily without even breaking a sweat.

"You don't seem to be having troubles with this," she gasped.

"I was the fastest runner at my old school." I grinned.

"Well, it looks like you might just get beaten," Melody winked. I looked over, and saw that Five and Six were now up ahead, both of them challenging the other to see who could keep the lead while still running slow enough that the humans didn't think it was weird. A couple saw this as a challenge and they too pushed themselves to try and take the lead. _How pathetic of them._

"I could easily beat Farid," I scoffed, Five was a little pudgy so I was definitely in better shape than him, Six was definitely more of a challenge. "But I think I'll just take it easy," I told her.

"Really?" she laughed. "Is it so?"

"Yeah," I nodded. We jogged around the block until the teacher blew the whistle, calling an end to our run. When everyone was back inside the gym chattering, Eight walked over to me. Melody had wandered off to her friends where almost everyone was on the other side of the gym. The others were mixed amongst the humans, trying to get close to them to find out if they were Ten.

My finely tuned ears pricked as I heard something metal creak, and I ignored Eight's pointless chatter as I looked around. My eyes finally rested upon Five; he was on one knee tying his shoes, and directly above him was a metal bar hanging by thin cords, the source of the noise. I squinted, eyeing it closely until I could see the cords beginning to snap. My instincts kicked in quickly, maybe too quickly.

"Farid!" I shouted in alarm as I bolted towards him, tackling him to the ground as we slid across the gym floor. I had reached him just in time as the large metal bar came crashing down, smashing the gym floor. Screams from the humans echoed through the gymnasium as everyone stared in shock at what had just happened. I could hear Five's heart beating rapidly. _At least I called him the right name for the humans._

"Thank you," Five panted, his eyes wide in fright. "You just saved my life,"

"You think I did it for you?" I rolled my eyes as I got to my feet. There was no one around that could hear me quite yet, they were all too shocked. "I don't want another scar burning into my ankle, thank you very much. Wouldn't be very convenient for our cover." I retorted. Mrs. Lange and Mr. Phillipes rushed over, checking over Five and me to make sure we were unharmed. We were rushed out of the gym, forced to go into the library instead.

"Nathan are you alright?" Melody's eyes were wide as we made our way to the library.

"I'm fine," I nodded. _Eight's going to use this against me, I know it._ "I'm just happy that I had enough time to get Farid out the way. I almost had a heart attack!"

"You got to him really fast," Melody muttered.

"Adrenaline." I said quickly. "I was terrified. I saw that wire, and I knew that it was going to fall. My brother was directly under it and the only thing that I could think of to do, was to shove him out of the way."

"I'm glad that you got to him in time," she nodded. We all had to take a seat in the library as we gathered around a screen to watch a movie.

"You helped Five," Eight said when it was just me and him searching for unclaimed chairs amongst the bookshelves.

"Of course I did," I scoffed. "He's one of us, whether we want him to be or not. Though, there would have been a positive side to it,"

"What exactly could be positive out of Number Five's blood splattered on the gym floor and a fresh new scar burning into the rest of our ankles, exposing all of us?" Eight retorted.

"We would be exposed, yes." I agreed. "But so would Number Ten."

"Don't even think about it, Nine," Eight hissed.

"I wasn't going to kill him!" I insisted. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I am sick and tired of playing this stupid guessing game. We need to find Ten and get out of here, not play high school."

"I know," Eight sighed. "It's taking a lot longer than we thought." _I kind of hoped that Ten would be Melody, but she doesn't have the marks. Who is Number Ten? Are they even at this school? Do they even exist or was Ella wrong?_

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the update :) Any thoughts on who Ten might be? ~-~**


	6. Chapter 6

"Find someone to hang out with after school." Four told me after the warning bell had gone to signal the end of lunch.

"Why?" I scoffed, slamming my locker closed. It had taken forever to convince the stupid teachers not to put my heroic act in the paper or in the news. Something like that would draw Mog attention and that was the last thing we wanted while still searching for Ten.

"Because we've been here for two weeks, and we still haven't found Number Ten. Whoever he or she is, they are good at hiding. I'll be with that kid, Daymon, the one that always has his backpack? Six is going to be with this girl, Molly. Marina is with Serena, Ella is with Cassidy, Sarah is with Cyan, Five is with Jake, Eight is with Kai and Sam is with Spencer. You've got to find someone to hang out with." Four insisted. He looked tired and I couldn't help but smirk, he had been up all night doing that stupid homework that he had naively accepted to do for me, on top of his own homework as well.

"I'll find someone." I sighed, but he had already walked away. The bell rang, signalling my lateness but I couldn't care less. _Math class. Fun._ I picked up the math textbook that had been signed out under my fake name and followed the crowd of late kids to Mr. Phillipe's math class. I went to sit at my normal spot with Eight, but Kai was already there. There were chatting in a hushed tone about something I didn't care about.

"Nathan." Melody called, waving me over. "River's had to leave early. Come and sit with me." she grinned. I shrugged and pulled up a chair. "Did you do the math homework?" she asked as I set my binder and textbook down on the table.

"Yeah," I nodded, pulling it out of my bag. _Actually, Four did the math work._

"Nice." she smiled. "He'll come around and check it." she started tapping the eraser end of her pencil against the rim of her binder.

"Hey, are you busy after school?" I asked. I hadn't even realised that the words had come out until she responded.

"No," Melody shook her head. "Why?" _Yeah, why did I ask her? She can't be Ten because she doesn't have the marks, so what's this feeling that I can't shake?_

"All my siblings are hanging out with their besties after school and I was told to find someone to hang out with since Malcolm won't be home till later." I explained. _No going back now._ "Do you want to hang out, or am I going to have to spend the day on my own?"

"You're being serious?" she asked. "No joke or anything? You actually want to hang out, with just me?" she sounded surprised.

"Yeah." I nodded slowly. _This just got weird. What's up with her?_

"Then sure." she smiled. _Why did she think I was joking?_ The rest of the day went by in a blur. When the final bell rang, I went to my locker where Eight was already standing on his own, dropping his books off in the locker next to mine.

"Who are you hanging out with?" Eight asked.

"Melody." I replied, dialling the combination on my lock while avoiding eye contact, awaiting his inevitable response.

"I thought we already ruled her out?" he frowned.

"We can't rule anyone out." I scoffed. "At least not completely." I looked over at him to find him Eight grinning stupidly. "What?"

"I don't think that's why you are really hanging out with Melody." he laughed. "But that's okay, Nine. Your secret is safe with me."

"I know exactly what you're implying." I hissed in annoyance. "She's human, Eight. I'm not."

"That doesn't mean anything." Eight retorted. "Look at Four and Sarah,"

"Four is stupid for falling in love with a human." I scoffed. Eight just shrugged and walked away, greeting Kai at the end of the hall. _I'd never fall for a human. Never again._

"Hey," Melody smiled. I hadn't noticed that she had come over to me, too busy being annoyed with Eight. "Here is your chance to end it," she said seriously. "I won't be mad. You can tell me that it all just a joke. Did someone put you up to this?"

"It's not a joke." I shook my head. "I actually want to hang out with you. Where should we go? You know Cumberland better than me," I shrugged.

"We could go to the park," she suggested.

"Okay." I smiled. "Let's go." We walked in awkward silence, down the long straight street until we reached the park, only a block away. When we arrived, we took a seat on the field. There were a few little kids screaming and laughing at the playground. "So," I said awkwardly, breaking the silence. "How long have you lived in Cumberland?"

"I've lived here for around five years." Melody shrugged. "Since I was around twelve,"

"Why did you think I was joking when I asked you to hang out?" I couldn't help but ask. It had kinda weirded me out.

"You sure you want to know?" she asked. I had to know now so I nodded. "The kids in our school, they see me as, I don't know. A freak I guess." I shrugged. _A freak? Maybe she is number Ten!_

"Why do they think you're a freak?" I asked, my heart pounding.

"I live on my own. I don't have any parents, or any siblings or anyone," she started. "They don't think that its normal."

"What happened?" I asked her. I couldn't help but feel disappointed, it hadn't been what I had expected but in a way, I could relate. "If you don't mind telling me," I added. "You don't have to."

"No, it's fine. I've never really told anyone. Maybe it will help to get it all out. For someone else to know." she sighed, picking at the grass nervously. "I had a family once. My father and my brother. I remember a house that we used to live in, it was small and in the countryside, away from everything. It was beautiful, and really peaceful."

"Thats sounds awesome," I told her, taking a deep breath. I envied her, at least she remembered her family. "What happened?" Her face darkened and I wished that I could take the question back.

"We were outside one day," She started, "My brother and me were playing by this huge willow tree in our yard. My father was trying to tell us something but I don't remember what it was. I just remember the wind, it was so strong; my hair was going all over the place. The sky was really gray and I remember my father yelling at my brother and me to get to the corn field. I didn't understand then, but a tornado was coming."

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, already knowing where the story was going.

" I tried my best to keep up with him, but I lost my brother in the rush to the field. He was always so much faster than me, he disappeared right away. It was so blurry, I couldn't see anything. I fell into a hole somewhere in the field and hit my head pretty bad, I was knocked out cold." Her voice quivered as she spoke and I could tell that she was reliving that horrible day in her head. I knew what that was like. "I was found later on by a police officer and I stayed with them for a while before I was put in a foster home. I ran away from there, hoping to find my father and my brother and they didn't bother coming after me. I never found them though, but I found my here. I stayed and never went back."

"That's awful," I shook my head sadly. I guess even the humans had it rough sometimes.

"There isn't a day that goes by without me wondering whether or not my father and brother are still alive. I mean, where have they been for this long? Are they still looking for me?" she sighed. "I remember everything about them. I see their faces in my head. I imagine what my brother would look like. He'd be taller than me. His brown eyes would twinkle when he's doing something he isn't supposed to. My father still looks the same," she trailed off. I could see tears slowly forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Do you remember their names?" I asked curiously.

"Of course." she nodded. "My father's name was Thomas. And my brother's name was Andy." she told me.

"Is," I corrected. "I believe they are out there." I told her. "They'll never stop searching for you. And one day, they'll find you and then you'll have your family back."

"Thanks." she smiled. "That's makes me more hopeful." _She isn't Number Ten. She's just a kid who lost her family. We aren't so different, her and I. Except I don't remember my parents. And I was sent away. She was lost. If there was anything that I could do to reunite her with her family, I'd do it._


	7. Chapter 7

When Melody and I had gone our separate ways, and I walked through the door of our house to find Number Four laying on the couch by himself. It was quiet so everyone else must have still been out trying to locate Ten.

"How was your little play date?" I snickered.

"Terrible." he groaned, sitting up so that I could sit down beside him. _I had many couches in my home,_ I thought bitterly. "We can cross Daymon off our list of possible Number Ten's."

"Backpack boy?" I raised an eyebrow, taking a seat next to him. He had been our most promising suspect. "How come?"

"When I was hanging out with him, all he wanted to do was smoke pot!" Four scrunched his nose in disgust and I couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

"Number Ten is a stoner?" I chuckled.

"No," he shook his head. "He's just a regular stoner. Apparently Cumberland is full of them, according to him."

"Alright, so that doesn't rule him out completely." I shrugged. My nose suddenly caught whiff of an odd smell, one that I hadn't smelled in a long time, not since I used to roam around the street of Chicago. Marijuana. I narrowed my eyes, examining Four closely before grinning. "Johnny, are you stoned?"

"I had to," he mumbled, making eye contact with me. Now I could see his eyes clearly, there were bloodshot and he looked really tired. I couldn't contain my laughter. "He pressured me like crazy and I had to know if he was Ten or not so I took one toke out of what he called a bong,"

"Well how do you feel?" I pressed, still giggling.

"Weird," he shook his head. "I was coughing like crazy, my throat burned and he was just laughing at me, saying that the more I coughed, the higher I would be,"

"Hey," I told him sternly, trying to keep a straight face. "You better keep your drugs away from the other kids." I joked.

"My head felt weird, but kinda good." Four sighed. "Still kinda does but I want it to stop."

"Maybe Malcom should have made your ID say Bob Marley," I laughed, shaking my head. "Seriously though, you need to sober up. Gotta be in top shape in case of a Mog attack." With me and him the only ones here, I'm not sure if I'd be able to hold off an entire attack if they swarmed us, and Four wouldn't be able to focus as clearly as he would need.

"I keep having these weird like," he paused for a moment, "deep thoughts about stuff, but I don't like it. I couldn't help it when we were sitting alone in his room, I just straight up asked him if he was Number Ten."

"You did what?" I retorted. "You dumbass." I shook my head. "You could have seriously compromised us, dude."

"He just laughed and asked what drug I was on and where he could buy it so I'm pretty sure we are good. I asked him about his bag and, get this," he coughed into his elbow before continuing. "He said that he always had it with him in case the police came and he had to make a get away with his marijuana and his smoking devices." Four scoffed. "We're back where we started."

"One of the others might turn up positive." I shrugged. "Besides, you had fun, didn't you?" I raised an eyebrow at him. In a way, I was kinda jealous. Not because he did drugs, but because it was apparently a normal experience for teenagers, and normal was something that we could never have.

"What about Melody?" Four asked, ignoring my question. "Any luck with her?"

"No." I shook my head. "I don't think that she's Ten." _Her story proves that she isn't one of us._

"Maybe we'll have better luck with the others." Four sighed, shaking his head. "I don't want to stay here any longer, not while the Mogs are out there planning an attack."

"I agree with you," I nodded. "I'm done playing high school and want to get back into the real action. No more drugs, hey?" I nudged him playfully.

"Whatever." Four retorted, getting to his feet. "I'm going to go find something useful to do." Without another word, he walked down the stairs, going into the basement. It wasn't the best place for training, definitely not anything like the Lecture Hall that Sandor had built, and we suspected the neighbours could hear us training but we had at least had the sense to block out all windows so no passerby could try and peek in.

Malcolm walked up the stairs shortly after Four disappeared, waving at me before wandering down the hall towards the room that he shared with Sam. He'd set up a system where he could monitor all the video footage in the village. He was no Sandor, but he was alright. Any idea came to mind and instantly I was on my feet, making my way down the hall. I opened the door to his study and entered when I found that he was the only one in there. _So it's just the three of us here._

"Hey Nathan." he said, not looking up from the screen that he was watching.

"Nine." I corrected irritably, rolling my eyes. "My name is Nine around here. I'm only Nathan at school."

"Right," Malcolm said awkwardly. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." I shrugged, peeking over his shoulder at the screens but there didn't seem to be anything interesting, just people walking around. "I actually came here with a question for you." I said, sitting in a small chair beside him, watching the various camera footage from the large screen.

"What's your question?" he asked me, adjusting his glasses.

"Someone went missing a few years ago, here in Canada. Their family would obviously be looking for them, right?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't ask too many questions. _I have to at least try to find her family for her, it's the right thing to do._ "They'd be on the news or something like that? Is there anyway you could track them down?"

"It's quite possible, yes." Malcolm nodded. "Do you have names? An area maybe? It would make the search a lot easier." He minimized the cams and began typing frantically on a search browser.

"I've got names." I told him. "The missing girl's name is Melody. She went missing five or six years ago. Her father's name is Thomas, and she had a brother who's name is Andy. They are the ones who would be looking for her."

"Alright." Malcolm nodded. "I'll have to run a scan to search for anything like that," he looked away from the screen and raised an eyebrow at me. "Nine, if you don't mind me asking, why you want to find this girl?"

"I already found the girl. It's the family I want to find." I shrugged. "Just try and find a phone number or something, alright?" I turned towards and the door and started walking before he could say anything. "And Malcolm?" I asked, turning over my shoulder after opening the door.

"Yes?" he smiled.

"If you could keep this between you and me, that would be great." I winked.

"I won't tell the others." he promised, turning back to his computer. I nodded and walked out the door without saying anything else.

* * *

"Again." I hissed, standing over the pitiful Five. He was pathetic compared to the others, I kinda felt bad since his cepan wasn't really able to train him properly but that still wasn't much of an excuse since the rest of us had managed to train just fine without our cepans.

"I don't want to keep going." Five shook his head, still on his knees. _What a weak little bitch. We've barely been going at this for an hour._ "I'm tired."

"You're tired?" I retorted, poking him with the end of my staff. "Do you think that those filthy mogadorians will let you have a break when you're tired?" I was breathing to hard, my adrenaline pumping.

"I've never fought any mogadorians like the rest of you." Five snarled. "Unlike all of your Cepans, mine did his job and kept me hidden from them." Anger started swelling in my chest. _How dare he say that about Sandor!_

"At least all of our Cepan's died protecting us, doing their duties. You lost yours to some stupid human sickness." I spat shoving him roughly again. I started walking away but Five flew to his feet and tackled me, catching me off guard and knocking me off my feet. He threw his arm back and punched me hard in the jaw before I wriggled out from under him and managed to pin him down by his hands with my knees. I punched him in the nose, smirking in triumph when blood started to trickle from his nostril. I punched him again, this time hard in the jaw and stood, kicking him roughly in the gut before walking away, leaving him groaning in pain.

"You bastard." he hissed through his breath.

"You can't even beat me." I scoffed. "How do you expect to beat a mogadorian in battle?"

"I won't have to." Five retorted, stumbling to his feet. "You're all going to be there, right?"

"Are you serious?" I snarled. "If that's how you are going to think, then maybe I should just end your pathetic life right now." I spat. " You're of no use to any of us who actually want to go home."

"Go home to what?" Five spat angrily. "There is _nothing_ left. _We_ are all that is left. Everyone on Lorien, our parents, our grandparents, every loric there ever was, are dead. We are all that is left of them so who cares? I didn't choose this life, and neither did you. Screw the Elders and screw their higher plan for us,"

"And who do you think killed them all? Who do you think destroyed Lorien?" I retorted. "The mogs stole everything from us. They _deserve_ to die. That's why we're doing this. Getting together so we can defeat them and restore Lorien. If you don't want to help us, then leave and stay out of our way." I walked away, leaving him there, pitiful looking and lying on the ground. _We better find Number Ten soon. I'm so done with these kids, I just want everything to go back to the way they were, back when it was just me and Sandor against the world._

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Nathan." Melody grinned, taking a seat next to me on the bench I was sitting on outside. It was lunch hour, and most of the kids decided the best use of that time was the walk laps around the schools hallways, it kinda reminded me of rats on a treadmill. _Humans._

"Hey." I smiled, taking out one of my earbuds. I wasn't actually listening to any music, I just figured people would leave me alone if they thought that I was. They also wouldn't know I was listening into their conversations that flooded in from the open door. The sooner we found Number Ten, the sooner we could move on. This whole school thing was awful. Sandor didn't make me go to school. It wasn't like Number Ten would flat out say, _'I'm the Tenth Loric garde'_ to make our lives easier either. Whoever Number Ten is is good at hiding. It's no wonder they stayed off the radar for so long. For now I was stuck listening in to conversations. Some of them were talking about video games, some were talking about the science work and some were talking about their plans of getting drunk and stoned on the weekend.

"What's up?" she asked, taking a seat next to me. River wasn't here today, and neither was Serena and those were normally the only people that I saw her with. Marina and Eight had started hanging out with their new friends so I was stuck on my own, until Melody showed up.

"Not much." I shrugged. "Just trying to finish up the science homework before Mrs. Lange comes to collect it, she gave me an extension because I didn't have it done." Four didn't have time to do my homework for me like we had arranged, he had passed out from being so stoned, so I was stuck doing it myself this time.

"The answer to that question is A." She told me, nodding to my paper. The science booklet was on soundwaves.

"Thanks." I nodded, circling A. Just as I finished the last question, Mrs. Lange popped out of the doorway, smiling and taking the paper from me without a word. The bell rang signalling the end of the lunch so we grab our stuff and walked back inside. It was time for English now so I followed the crowd to that class and sat at my usual desk. Only me and Mason were in the class, the teacher off doing whatever it was they did to prepare classes.

"So," Mason turned around to face me. "You and Melody, huh?" he grinned.

"Me and Melody are just friends," I retorted, crossing my arms. "What's it to you?"

"If you knew the truth about her," he scoffed. "You wouldn't want to be her friend."

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. "That she lives on her own? Big whoop. At least she can do whatever she wants, when she wants without anyone telling her what to do."

"Why do you think she lives alone?" he rolled his eyes. "She's a freak." _What is he talking about?_

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Ask her about Sawyer," he sneered before turning around. Students had started shuffling in and the teacher had arrived. _What is he talking about? Who's Sawyer?_ I watched the clock instead of paying attention any of the classes and when the bell rang, I didn't wait for the other garde. I went straight home.

"Nine," Malcolm said when I walked through the door. Sam was right behind me, bumping into me and muttering under his breath when I stopped abruptly. "Can I speak to you please?" Sam shot me a surprised look but said nothing.

"Sure." I shrugged, following him into his study and closing the door behind me.

"You remember when you asked me to find that family?" Malcolm asked, shuffling through some papers.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Did you find anything?" I asked hopefully.

"I found a phone number for a Thomas O'Brien. The article that I read said that Thomas lost his daughter in a tornado incident. And he also had a son. His son's name was Andy."

"That's them." I nodded before realising what he said. "Wait, did you say _had_?" I frowned. "What do you mean he _had_ a son?"

"Andy also went missing that day." Malcolm explained. "Thomas has been looking for both Melody and Andy since the tornado incident."

"Alright." I shrugged. "What's the number?"

"Here," he handed me a piece of paper with a number on it.

"Thank you, Malcolm." I said before leaving him to his work. _I'll call him later._

"Again." I hissed. Five and I were sparring in the basement that we had made the training room. It was pathetic compared to the lecture hall Sandor created at the John Hancock centre in Chicago. Just thinking about the place made me miss it. The sooner I could go back there the better.

"I'm done sparring with you," Five snarled, walking away. I had just kicked his ass and now he was being a baby about it, once again.

"Then you're weak!" I called after him. He spun around, furious.

"I'm not weak." he snarled angrily. "Tell you what, I'll let you hit me. If you can hurt me, then we spar for as long as you want. But if you cant," he paused, taking a step forward so he was inches from me. "Then we quit and you leave me alone." he added.

"Alright," I shrugged cooley.

"Is that really a good idea?" Eight scoffed.

"Nine," Marina hissed but I ignored them and reeled my arm back. I swung my fist, aiming for his stupid face. I didn't notice that he was holding something in his hand. Right before my fist hit his face his skin changed to silver. I felt my bones break when they hit the steel surface that seconds ago had been Five's face. I groaned in agony, try to suppress my pain as much as I could. I definitely hadn't seen that coming and neither did Eight and Marina because they were speechless.

"You didn't pay much attention to Number Four when he told you about the trouble we go into in Arkansas? Did you?" he retorted. I hadn't. "If you had, you would have seen that coming." I cursed under my breath and walked away without a word. I could let Marina heal it, but Five is there. I needed to keep the shred of dignity I had left. I found Four in the living room, his head tilted back while him and Sam idly chatted.

"Heal this." I scoffed, holding out my hand in front of his face. Sam shot me a strange look but I ignored it. Four laughed as he took my hand.

"Let me guess" he laughed. "Five showed you his externa legacy? He can turn into whatever he touches and he carries around a steel ball." This was awkward and I just wanted it to end quickly. I could feel it healing itself, the muscles in my wrist pulling each other back together. When he was finished, there wasn't even a mark.

"Thanks." I muttered before leaving them alone once more. I just wanted to be alone so I went to my room and sat on the edge of my bed. It was the only furniture in the room, and like the training room, it was pathetic compared to the setup that Sandor and me had in Chicago. _We must all make our sacrifices, apparently mine includes my comfort._ I reached into my pocket, and pulled out the piece of paper that Malcolm had given me, his messy scribbling sprawled across it with a name and number. I took a deep breath. _What if I call him, and he comes to take her away?_ I thought selfishly. _I don't want her to leave. She's the only one I can tolerate at that school, she can't leave before we find Ten, I'll be all alone with all the dumb humans._ I considered just throwing out the paper, pretending I never had it to begin with but I couldn't bring myself to do it. _I got Malcolm to search for him so I could call him to tell him that Melody is fine. So that he didn't have to worry._ I sighed, knowing what I had to do. I took my phone out of my other pocket, and dialed the number. It rang for a while. _Oh well. I tried._ Just before I was about to hang up, the line crackled.

"Hello?" A man's voice called on the other end. I took a deep breath and spoke.

"Is this Thomas O'Brien?" I asked. There was a long pause before the line crackled.

"Yes." the man answered. "How can I help you?"

"Actually, it's the other way around. I can help you." I told him.

"How exactly can you help me?" The man scoffed.

"I found Melody." I said dreadfully. "She's safe. She's been safe for years."

"You found my daughter?" the voice choked. "What about Andy, my son? Is he with you too? Where can I find you? Find her?" I couldn't bring myself answer him. _If he finds out where she is, he'll just come to take her away. She can't leave, not yet._

"I called to tell you that she is safe and that she's happy. You don't need to worry about her anymore." I said slowly.

"No! Wait!" he said urgently. "You don't understand!" I hung up the phone before he could finished what he was about to say, tossing my my phone. I lay on my bed, staring at the boring ceiling while my heart thumped like crazy. _Did I do the right thing?_


	9. Chapter 9

"Homework in the bin please," Mrs. Lange said, putting a green bin on the front table. Eight and I stood, and walked to the front of the class, just as everyone else was. I put the science booklet, completed in Four's neat writing, in the bin and walked back to my desk. Melody took her seat in front of me, and faced the board, listening to Mrs. Lange,who was teaching the class about asexual reproduction. I couldn't help but feel guilty about calling her father, and then hanging up. I knew that I should tell her. She deserved to know that I found her father after she had spent years searching for him. It was selfish of me to keep it to myself, but I couldn't bring myself to bring it up. The bell rang, and we packed up our binders before leaving the class.

"We've been here for weeks and we still haven't found Number Ten." I scowled when we went outside for our break. Eight and I were walking around the field, a boring thing but it killed time. There wasn't much to do at lunch, most kids just wandered the hallways or the outside of the school.

"I know," Eight sighed. "We just have to keep looking." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Melody walking around with a group of kids from our class. There was a few from the other class too. Eight caught my gaze and grinned.

"What?" I scoffed. "What are you giving me that stupid look for?"

"You like her." He laughed, nudging my arm.

"No," I retorted. "I don't."

"You're so stupid, Nine." Eight shook his head. "Why can't you just admit it already? You have feelings for Melody."

"I don't have feelings for her, okay?" I hissed, anger swelling up inside me. "I can't."

"What do you mean, _you can't_?" Eight frowned.

"I can't fall for a human." I sighed, shaking my head. _Not again._

"Why does that matter?" Eight scoffed. "In case you've forgotten, we're the last of our people."

"I can't fall for a human because last time I did, it got Sandor killed." I told him.

"That wasn't your fault, Nine." Eight retorted.

"Yeah, it was." I insisted. "I fell for a human and she turned me into the mogadorians. I got captured, and Sandor got captured trying to find me. Its my fault that he's dead, and all because I fell for a stupid human. I'm not going to let that happen again, I can't."

"It's okay to feel something, Nine." Eight told me. "It may seem like it was your fault, but it wasn't. It was _their_ fault. The mogadorians. And we're going to get them back for everything that they did to us, to our people."

"I guess." I shrugged. The bell rang and we had to go to homeroom. Melody was standing by herself in the hallway by her locker.

"Hey Nathan." she grinned when she saw me.

"Hey." I smiled as she closed her locker. "What are you doing after school?"

"After school?" she repeated. "Nothing." she shrugged.

"Well do you want to hang out?" I asked. Most of the others wouldn't be at the house, so there wasn't really a point in going back there.

"Sure." she smiled. "You want to come over to my place?"

"Okay," I nodded while we walked into homeroom. "Sounds like a plan," After the bell rang, I was at my locker when I heard the commotion coming in from outside. I closed my lockers, walking out to see Melody surrounded by a group of girls on the field, and they didn't look too happy.

"Why don't you just admit it, already?" The girl who appeared to be their ringleader scoffed. I didn't recognise her from our classes.

"I didn't do anything," Melody insisted, I could hear the pain in her voice and noticed that her eyes were starting to tear up.

"Liar," the girl spat, bringing her arm up as it to strike. I was already moving closer and when she brought her arm down. I grabbed it before she could hit Melody.

"Why don't you all just back off?" I growled, releasing the girls arm while shoving her back. I held out my other hand to Melody, who graciously accepted it while climbing to her feet.

"Why are you defending her?" The girl hissed. "You don't know what the freak did."

"I don't care," I scoffed. "She said she didn't do anything, so fuck off." I'd seen movies with plenty of girls like them in them; the "popular" snobs who felt the need to pick on anyone who they felt threatened by. _As if Melody didn't have enough problems to deal with._

"We were about the leave anyways," she said while glaring at me. We watched her and her groupies leave but before she turned around the corner, she turned over her shoulder. "Why don't you tell your boyfriend about Sawyer, Melody? I'm sure he would love to hear about him."

"Thanks," Melody mumbled, crossing her arms while staring at the ground. "Millie is a bitch,"

"No problem," I shrugged. "Those girls were ass holes."

"Yeah," she nodded.

"So did you still want to hangout?" I asked her. "I understand if you don't,"

"Yeah sure," she smiled. "I'm ready to go now, if you are."

"I'm ready," I told her. We started walking around the side of the building, towards the parking lot.

"I live pretty close to the school," She told me as we walked out towards the front of the school. I caught a glimpse of Six getting into a girl's car as we crossed the parking lot but I forced myself to avoid her gaze. "I found this place pretty cheap, surprisingly affordable with the income that I have," she laughed.

"You have a job?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I wouldn't have a place otherwise. I put in some hours every week down at the gas station, it's not that bad. The landlady isn't too bad either, she lives upstairs." She stopped at a bottom door to a very large house, fidgeting for a key before unlocking the door. It was a very big space, the training basement we had was about the same size as the whole room. There was a kitchen area, a bed, and a small couch with a television set in front of it. "Home, sweet home," she grinned, plopping down on the couch without bothering to take off her shoes. I left mine on as well, taking the seat next her while she turned on the television with a remote and began skimming through channels.

"I like it here," I told her. "Its very quiet."

"Yeah, it's always really quiet," she nodded. "Probably not what you are used to, with nine siblings and all," she laughed.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It can be pretty loud with everyone there,"

"I bet," she continued flipping through channels before stopping on an animated cartoon with a talking dog and a baby, who seemed to be really smart.

"So," I said slowly, taking a deep breath before asking the one thing that had been on my mind since the day before. "Who's Sawyer?"

"Sawyer," she said slowly, I could hear the pain in her voice and immediately regretted asking the question. "Sawyer was my friend," tears swelled up in her eyes as she fought them back, I felt awful for bringing up the topic. "And I killed him."

* * *

 **So? What did you think? Please leave a review! I love getting feedback :)**


	10. Chapter 10

"What happened?" I asked, my heart pounding. I don't know what I had expected, but it wasn't this.

"We were in grade six, about a year after I moved here." she started, her eyes watering up. "Sawer was one of my best friends, but you know how kids are; they upgrade to the shiny new toy when they are bored. Sawyer started hanging around more with Millie, and we kinda grew apart."

"Millie doesn't sound like a decent person," I scoffed, but her expression never changed and I could tell that she was trapped in the memory.

"It was an accident," She closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her cheek before she continued. "They were showing me around, my hair was everywhere, blinding me and I couldn't see a thing. I swear, I didn't hit him that hard, but he was a small kid and I didn't know my own strength."

"What happened?" I frowned.

"I hit him and he stumbled backwards, smoking his head on the low brach of a tree before smashing it on sharp rocks. It happened so fast. One minute I was defending myself, the next my old friend was laying in a pool of blood, the force of the impact had been too much for him."

"It wasn't your fault," I told her.

"Yes," she argued. "It was."

"It wasn't," I insisted.

"You don't understand," she shook her head. "I just wanted it to stop. If I hadn't pushed him, he wouldn't have hurt himself. He wouldn't have bled out in front of us, we were just kids. And I did that to him. I should have left when it happened, but I didn't. I stayed around even though most of the kids hate me."

"What about those kids I saw you with when we first got here? What about Serena and River?" I scoffed. "They don't seem to hate you."

"No," she shook her head. "But they fear me. That's worse."

"Well than they're pussies," I retorted. "I've seen some scary shit, but when I look at you, I don't see anything to be afraid of." I don't know why I said that, and I don't know why I leaned in closer to her, our lips meeting. It just happened .

When I was laying in bed later that night, I couldn't stop thinking about her and the kiss we had shared. There had been a few others back when I had lived in Chicago, but none of them had felt like this had. Melody stirred up a feeling inside me that I had never felt before, and I wanted it to go away.

* * *

"You're Nathan's little brother, right?" I hear Melody ask Five as I round the corner to my locker. I see them sitting on a bench together so I stop, listening in on their conversation.

"Yeah," He nods. "Malcolm adopted us."

"That's neat," she tells him.

"What about you?" Five asks her. "You have any siblings?"

"I used to," she mutters.

"That's unfortunate," he shakes his head. I can't tell if he is genuinely apologetic or not. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking."

"We were separated," she shrugs, I notice an uncomfortable shift in her voice and instantly hate Five for making her think about all that. "His name was Andy," This seems to interest Five, although he notices me and grins, waving me over.

"Hey, Nathan." He smiles, I return it but internally I'm rolling my eyes.

"Bye, I gotta go to work. I'll see you later, Nathan." Melody smiles, waving as she leaves after the final bell has rung. We had plans to meet at the park after she was finished work.

"What was that about?" I retorted.

"What?" Five raises his eyebrow as he stands to leave.

"Why did you want to know about her family?" I hissed.

"Jesus, its called small talk, Nine." he rolled his eyes, walking faster so I wasn't beside him anymore but something told me that there was more to it than that. I didn't pester him any further, but mentally told myself that I would keep an eye on him. Although he was one of us, there was something about him that made my skin curl.

I lose him in the crowd but I'm not really paying attention to him anyways. Keeping my head down to avoid confrontation with anyone, I walk quickly out the doors and towards our home. When I arrive, I kick my shoes and head straight to my room.

Throwing my bag on my bed, I noted that I was the only one there. I had found a note on the counter in the kitchen that said Malcolm had gone somewhere with Sam, and the others were out trying to find Number Ten. I laze around the house until it was almost time to go and meet Melody. When I opened the front door, there was a man standing there. He had a short stubble, and short black hair.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my heart racing as I cautiously glanced around in case there were any Mogs. There didn't seem to be any, but I could never be too sure.

"You're Nathan." He said slowly, ignoring my question. "I spoke to you on the phone." _Thomas_. _Melody's_ _father_. My heart started pounding. _Damn it! He probably tracked my cell phone._

"Yeah, so?" I scoffed cooly.

"Where is my daughter?" He demanded.

"Why should I tell you?" I retorted. "From the sounds of it, you didn't try looking for her, so she built a life of her own. She's happy. She's been happy for a long time and she definitely doesn't need you bursting into her life now that she's finally settled in." _He can't take her away now. Not until I find who Number Ten, otherwise I'll be alone here._

"Who are you to speak for her?" He scoffed. "You have no idea what's really going on."

"If you excuse me, I have to go." I brushed past him, turning my back to him. _I'll just leave. He can't follow me._

"Hey," He grabbed my arm and out of impulse, I shoved him back roughly, using my strength. He went flying backwards, off the steps and into the shrubs. I didn't wait for him to get to his feet. I just ran. My heart pounded as I raced down the road, my feet slapping the asphalt. When I was far enough away from the house, I broke into a slow jog. I couldn't risk being seen going my full speed. When I arrived at the park, Melody was already waiting.

"Hey Nathan." she smiled.

"Hey." I grinned. She frowned suddenly when she she saw my face.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," I assured her. . "Everything is fine."

"Okay." she shrugged. We walked out onto the field and sat down. I kept shooting glances the way I came, just in case Thomas had followed me. Melody and I sat, talking. The longer we sat there, undisturbed, the more I relaxed.

"I'm not sure how long my family is staying here," I told her. "Malcolm came here looking for something for his work, and once he finds it, I guess we're leaving." _It's not far from the truth._

"I hope he finds it," she smiles.

"We came here on a hunch," I added. "We don't even know for sure if its here,"

"Well, I think fate brought you here," Melody grinned.

"Is that so?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know how to explain it," she shook her head. "But I feel like we were destined to meet."

"Well," I started, but something coming in the distance made me stop, something I knew the sound of all too well. I looked up to see the outline of a mogadorian ship. It started to lower, directly above us. _It's happened again._ My heart beat pounded. _She betrayed me._


	11. Chapter 11

"You bitch." I hissed, hopping to my feet. My heart was pounding, mind racing as I tried to grasp my situation. _I'm all alone. There is one Mog ship._ I silently thank Lorien that I hadn't been dumb enough to bring her to our house, so for now the others are safe.

"What?" She frowned. "Nathan, why would you call me that?"

"You know why!" I seethe in anger. I "Well, I won't let myself get captured. Not again." I snarled. "You've underestimated my power."

"What are you talking about?" She scoffed. "Power?"

"As if you don't know!" I snarled. "This is what I get for trusting a human," the hatch to the mog ship opens and I expect dozens of Mogs to begin dropping down, but only a boy appears.

"Long time no see," The boy grins as he lands near us and I can't tell if he's talking to me or her. "We have a lot of catching up to do, but now isn't the time for that. Sleep, Melody,"

"What's happen-?" she starts but her words were cut off short. Her eyelids started to flutter closed, and she fell backwards. I caught her at the last second with my telekinesis and gently lowered her down.

"Well, Number Nine." The boy had his hand extended towards Melody, so whatever just happened, he had done. "It's nice to finally meet you face to face." he grinned.

"Who are you?" I hissed.

"How about we skip the introductions? Stand aside, you'll know who I am when the time is right. I haven't come here for you. Not yet, anyways. You've already been claimed by someone else so I can't kill you. But if you stand in my way, then I can't guarantee that you'll walk away unscathed." He warned.

"Who do you think you are, speaking to me like that?" I hissed, stepping towards the kid who I had more than three inches over. He looked like he was just a little younger than Five "You have no idea what I can do."

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea. Telekinesis and Anti-gravity." My face must have revealed how shocked I was because he just chuckles. " I don't see any walls for you to touch. And you don't have that pretty little staff that you like to carry around either." He laughed. _He knows my legacies._ "Now, I'm going to give you one more chance to stand aside."

"Why do you want her?" I demanded. "She's just a human."

"You seriously don't know?" He raised an eyebrow towards me. "Wow. I guess you aren't as smart as I thought you were. You mean to tell me that you've been hanging around with her for weeks, and you never knew about her legacies?" he laughed. "This whole time, Number Ten was right under your nose." _Melody is Number Ten._

"She doesn't have the scars." I scoffed.

"That's because she isn't connected to rest of you." He retorted, stepping towards Melody but I stepped into his path.

"You aren't taking her." I snarled.

"I've given you your chance to stand aside. Just remember that I warned you." He took a step towards me, focusing on me. "Pain." As soon as the word was out of his mouth, I felt a painful headache. It felt like my brain was going to explode. Clutching my head did nothing.

While the mogadorian ship landed, the pain spread from my head to the rest of my body. It was like I was paralysed, I couldn't do anything to stop him. He stepped right over me and to Melody.

He took a moment to examine her, stroking her cheek before picking her up in his arms. Before going to the ship, he turned to face me. I was still writhing in pain, it was excruciating. "I'll see you again, Nine. Real soon." Grinning, he boarded the mogadorian ship and it left just as soon as it had arrived.

Once the ship was out of sight, the pain disappeared. I sat, gasping for breath. _I have to tell the others. Mogs could already be swarming the house._


	12. Chapter 12

Sprinting as fast as I could, not caring who saw anymore, I burst through the front door. There were no mogs in sight, but I knew that they would be on their way shortly. _This whole time, I have hoped Melody was one of us, and she was. How could I not see it? The accident when she was a kid was no accident, she had tapped into her power when she was in distress._

"What's wrong Nine?" Four asked, he and the others were all scattered throughout the room. They all froze when they saw me.

"We have to leave." I breathed, shaking my head. "Now."

"Why?" Ella asked.

"Because the mogs know we're here." I said quickly. I froze when I scanned the room. Thomas was sitting down beside Marina.

"Nine, this is Thomas." Four told me, following my gaze.

"I know who he is." I mumbled, breaking eye contact. _Why is he here?_

"No, you really don't." Thomas shook his head, rising to his feet as he spoke, his deep voice rasping. "I'm a mentor cepan."

"What?" I frowned, my heart pounding like a basketball being dribbled down the court on a breakaway.

"Number Ten, Melody, is my garde." He says quietly, his voice clouded in sadness. "On Lorien, I was called Sukan. I did make it to the airstrip that night, but not in time for Ten to participate in the charm that the Elder Loridas performed on the rest of you. Loridas instead teleported us to the museum where we boarded a second ship that left that night,"

"I was on that ship." Ella piped in.

"Yes, just a tiny bundle," Thomas nodded. "I'm glad you made it this far, Ella. The mogs never knew about the second ship, so they didn't know that three extra garde had survived. Although, I suspect they have suspicions now."

"Three?" Four frowned. "There is another?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I had two garde with me. One that I was assigned, and one who's mentor didn't survive the attack on our planet. I couldn't leave either child behind, so I brought them both. Andy and Melody." _Melody's brother. "_ I raised them as my own, but I never told them about Lorien. I figured that if I hid them away, kept them in the dark about everything, then they would be safe. But they found us anyways. I told them to run as fast they could, but," he trailed off. "I never knew what happened to them. They just disappeared into the cornfield. I've been looking for them ever since. And then I got a call from you, Nine. Please, its important. We need to find Melody before they do."

"It's too late." I said quietly.

"What do you mean it's too late?" He scoffed.

"I was just at the park with Melody. A mog ship showed up. And someone else too. A boy. He looked like he was about the same age as us, if not than younger. He took her." I sighed.

"You let him take her?" Five retorted.

"There was nothing that I could do!" I hissed. "He had this weird legacy. He said, 'Pain' and then my body was in agony. The next thing I know, they're gone. The mogs didn't even try to get me. They were after her."

"Andy." Thomas sighed. "It had to be. I had suspected that the mogs had gotten to him and Melody, but I hoped that I was wrong."

"What kinda bullshit legacy is that though?" I retorted. "He barely had to lift a finger." I swear I see Five stifle a small laugh but I ignore him.

"Mind Control," Thomas says in awe. "A truly powerful legacy that takes years to master. Although by the sounds of it, it's been warped for disturbing purposes."

"He knew about me," I shook my head, shuddering at the thought of a stranger knowing personal details about me. "He knew what my legacies were."

"The mogs must have a folder on you, probably one on all of you." Thomas told us.

"Makes sense," Sam mumbled.

"Where are the rest of the cepans?" Thomas asks and a dark silence falls across the entire room. He looks at each of us and I see a wave of sadness flash over him.

"They're dead," I break the silence.

"I'm sorry to hear," he croaks, tears forming in his eyes. "Who were your cepans?"

"Crayton," Ella sniffles.

"Crayton was a great man," Thomas tells her. "We shared many memories on our journey to Earth."

"My cepan called himself Henri," says Four. "On Lorien, his name was Brendon,"

"I knew Brendon well; he helped me with my mentor studies," Thomas dipped his head.

"Adelina was my cepan," Marina mutters softly.

"Adel," Thomas smiled. "Very skilled in combat. I looked up to her."

"Katerina trained me," Six tells him.

"Reynolds was assigned to me," Eight added.

"I don't think I met either of them, but I had heard about a Katar and a Reynolds around the academy. Both very talented." Thomas nodded.

"Sandor was my cepan," I told him.

"Sandor?" This seems to be the only name that he is intrigued by. "Sandor was your cepan?"

"Yes," I nodded, clenching my fists.

"Sandor wasn't a mentor cepan," he trails off, clearly in deep thought, or trapped in a memory.

"Sandor was one of the best mentor cepans that there were," I growled, stepping up to him. "How dare you question that,"

"I didn't mean any disrespect, Nine. I knew Sandor." Thomas throws his hands up in surrender. "I met him while I was studying at the academy. Although if my memory serves me right, he was a tech cepan."

"He was always good with technology," I muttered. _Was Sandor really not a mentor? But he did so well with me. Why did the Elder's assign him to me if he wasn't a mentor cepan? DID they assign him to me? Or someone else? How did I end up with Sandor?_

"Must have been one heck of a cepan if the Elder's assigned him to you anyways. He was quite the rebellious one back home," He grinned.

"Sandor?" I laughed. "Rebellious? On Lorien?"

"I could tell you a few stories," Thomas winked, turning to Five, who hadn't spoken a word. "And you?"

"My cepan's name was Rey," he says quickly, avoiding Thomas's gaze. Instead of offering condolences like he did with the rest of us, his face darkens instantly, just like when we had first mentioned that the cepans were all gone, tears swelled in his eyes.

"Rey," Thomas sniffled. "I haven't heard that name in years." Squeezing his eyes shut, a few tears roll down his cheek before he coughs, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve and continues. "You must be Number Five,"

"You knew my cepan?" Five raises his eyebrow. He barely spoke about his cepan, but I could see a look on his face that I hadn't seen before.

"Rey was my father," Thomas nodded. "I had just moved in with him before the invasion, and when he had to visit you to deliver your arm band and speak to your grandmother, I went with him. We've met before, on Lorien."

"You knew my grandmother?" Five looks like he's seen a ghost, his face pale and hands were shaking.

"I did. She was a telepath so you couldn't get away with anything," he nodded. "I'm extremely happy that you have made it this far, Nikio." He embraces him tightly and I notice Five flinch, but gradually accept it. _Nikio must have been Five's name on Lorien, before all this. I always knew that I must have had a name before I was just a soldier with a number, but I wish I had asked Sandor what it was._

"Sukan," Five mumbles, his eyes clouded as if he were in deep thought, trying to rip into a memory that was buried deep within his mind.

"When I lost my garde, I didn't know what to do." Thomas tells us. "So I tried to find my father, to find you, Five."

"You tried to find me?" Five's face still holds that strange expression that I had never seen before on him, until Thomas started speaking about Lorien, particularly Five's family and cepan.

"I did." he nodded. "All I found was an island,"

"You found it?" Five's eyes widened. "I didn't think anyone ever would,"

"Obviously I was too late," he sighed. "But I found some scribbles that I knew were in Rey's hand writing, so I knew I was on the right trail. It went cold after that though, until I heard about the cornfield with the mark burned into it. Loric symbol for Five."

"Yeah," Five rubs his neck, his face red. "I was tired of hiding and wanted to find the others."

"Well if you don't mind," Thomas says quietly. "I'd love to have a chat with you later, just us. I want to know how my father died, and," he smiled briefly. "How he lived, here on earth, I mean."

"Okay," Five nods.

"I'd love to sit here and continue having this conversation," Six pipes in, "But the mogs were just in this small town. Even if they didn't go after Nine, they know where we are." Six insisted. "That means we have to leave."

"Six is right," Marina nods. "We have to leave, now."

"What about Melody?" I scoffed. "We can't leave her with them. Who knows what kind of lies that bastard is going to tell her?"

"We'll get her back." Four insists, Thomas nods determinedly. "But Six is right, we can't stay here anymore."

"Alright then." I sighed. "We're going back to my place then. The mogs don't know where that is." _Melody, I'm sorry about all this. We'll find you, I promise._

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading :) If you liked this and would like to know what will happen next, read my story, "The Lost Legacy," Please leave a review on your thoughts about this, or any ideas you may have. I love getting feedback :)**_


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